September 29
On the outskirts of Kiev in the Nazi-occupied Ukraine, Jews are marched in small groups to the Babi Yar ravine north of the city, ordered to strip naked, and were machine-gunned into the ravine. The massacre ended September 30 and the approximate 34,000 Jewish dead and wounded were covered over with dirt and rock. The Babi Yar massacre became a symbol of Jewish suffering in the Holocaust. – 1941.
Seven persons suddenly die of unknown causes in northwest Chicago. Further investigation revealed that all seven took Tylenol capsules, which had been poisoned with cyanide. The culprit was never caught, but the mass murder led to new tamper-proof medicine containers. – 1982.
September 30
U.S. president Woodrow Wilson gives a speech in Congress in support of guaranteeing women the right to vote. – 1918.
Black farmers meet in Elaine, Ark. to establish the Progressive Farmers and Householders Union to fight for better pay and higher cotton prices. They are shot at by a group of whites, and return the fire. News of the confrontation spread and a riot ensues, which leaves at least 100, perhaps several hundred blacks, dead and 67 indicted for inciting violence. – 1919.
October 1
An act of Congress creates Yosemite National Park. U.S. president Benjamin Harrison paved the way for generations of hikers, campers, and nature lovers, along with countless “Don’t Feed the Bears” signs. – 1890.
T.E. Lawrence, a legendary British soldier known as Lawrence of Arabia and instrumental commander in the Allied campaign during World War I, helps lead a combined Arab and British force to capture Damascus from the Turks to complete the liberation of Arabia during World War I. – 1918.
Twelve high-ranking Nazis are sentenced to death by the International War Crimes Tribunal in Nuremberg, Germany. – 1946.
The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) is signed by president Richard Nixon which requires employers to provide safe and healthy work-places. – 1970.
October 2
Joining with 400,000 coal miners already on strike, 500,000 CIO steel workers close down the Nation’s foundries, steel mills, and iron mills, demand for pensions, better wages, and better working conditions. – 1949.
Actor Rock Hudson, 59, becomes the first major U.S. celebrity to die of complications from AIDS. Hudson’s death raised public awareness of the epidemic, which until that time had been ignored by many in the mainstream as a gay plague. – 1985.
October 3
Expressing gratitude for a pivotal Union Army victory at Gettysburg, U.S. president Abraham Lincoln announces that the Nation will celebrate an official Thanksgiving holiday November 26. – 1863.
With the admission of Iraq into the League of Nations, Britain terminates its mandate over the Arab nation which makes Iraq independent after 17 years of British rule and centuries of Ottoman rule. – 1932.
The 120,000 workers at 88 Ford plants in 26 states walk out to win higher wages and better benefits for their members. Workers at GM had gone on strike the previous month to win substantial wage and benefit improvements. – 1961.
After a 252-day trial, O.J. Simpson is acquitted of a double murder charge. – 1995.
October 4
Sculpting begins on the face of Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills National Forest of South Dakota, which is completed 12 years later. – 1927
Thirty-seven striking black Louisiana sugar workers are murdered when Louisiana militia, aided by bands of so-called prominent citizens, shoot unarmed workers trying to get a dollar-per-day wage. Two strike leaders were lynched. – 1887.
U.S. president Harry Truman orders the U.S. Navy to seize oil refineries in order to break a 20-state post-war strike. – 1945.
The Soviet Union inaugurates the Space Age with its launch of Sputnik, the world’s first artificial satellite. -1957.
October 5
U.S. president Harry Truman makes the first televised presidential address from the White House to ask Americans to cut back on their use of grain in order to help starving Europeans. – 1947.
American David Kunst completes the first round-the-world journey on foot, which took four years and 21 pairs of shoes to complete the 14,500-mile journey across the land masses of four continents. During the long journey, he took on sponsors and helped raise money for UNICEF. – 1974.